Friday, February 10, 2012

Nuclear Compensation Pack Outrageous

[excerpted] "Prompted by the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Japan has decided to join an international convention that will set a global uniform standard for compensating victims of such nuclear disasters, sources said...."

Majia here: The convention is called Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC). So far the US, Romania, Morocco, and Argentina have signed this convention.

The article lacks adequate detail but it seems to me from what I am reading here that the convention is appealing to governments and corporations because it proposes a uniform (and LIMITING) set of compensation standards for victims of nuclear disasters in countries impacted by another nation's nuclear mess.

The convention also limits the liability of a disaster to the nuclear operator, excluding the manufacturer.How convenient for General Electric.

This outrageous convention is clearly designed to make nuclear financially feasible by externalizing almost all costs in the wake of the greatest nuclear plant disaster in human history. Here are some indicative excerpts from the article:

"The convention would grant "exclusive jurisdiction" to Japan in the event an accident in the nation affected other countries. Following the Fukushima accident, it has been seen as a major potential burden that Japan could face court proceedings overseas if victims abroad sued concerned parties for compensation..."

"...Under the CSC, the member states jointly shoulder the cost of compensation for nuclear damage when the liability exceeds 300 million International Monetary Fund special drawing rights ($465 million, or 35 billion yen)...."

"...The convention would also ensure "exclusive liability of the operator," which means that all liability should be borne by the nuclear operator, not the manufacturers..."

Majia here: The article cites Daniel Poneman, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, who in December stated that "the events at Fukushima ... emphasized the need for a global nuclear liability regime"

"As President Obama made clear, the United States will study the lessons of Fukushima to improve the safety of our reactors, but we continue to believe nuclear power has an important role to play as part of a diversified clean energy portfolio that will promote economic prosperity, enhance our security, and reduce global carbon pollution....

"...As I have traveled the world in the months since the Fukushima accident, I have spoken to officials from a broad range of countries on their plans for nuclear energy moving forward. Most of them reached the same conclusion: that is, we must use the lessons from Fukushima to continue to improve nuclear safety worldwide.

"What has surprised me though, is how there has not been a rejection of nuclear energy. Instead, most governments, like our own, continue to view nuclear energy as an important contributor to a low-carbon future.

"We have also seen a marked increase in enthusiasm for the nuclear technologies that best address safety concerns – including reactors built by consortia of U.S. and Japanese companies, such as Westinghouse and Toshiba, General Electric and Hitachi....

"The events at Fukushima have also emphasized the need for a global nuclear liability regime to ensure that accident victims are compensated and to support a stable legal environment for nuclear energy’s expansion. In short, the time has come to adopt the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, also known as the CSC.

The CSC has been developed to include and address the concerns of all States that might be affected by a nuclear incident. It assures victims will receive prompt and equitable compensation in the event of an accident without protracted litigation...

Majia Here: excuse me while I go throw-up.

As evident in the shill's comments above, the entire point of a nuclear liability regime is to LIMIT liability by setting fixed compensation plans that disallow litigation (particularly class action litigation, no doubt).

After Fukushima, Chernobyl, and 3 Mile Island, legalistically limited liability is the only way nuclear can proceed.

Industry profits are prioritized over human welfare.

One also sees in the comments above that the US is going full force forward in its efforts to promote nuclear power despite the mega-disaster of Fukushima, which will no doubt kill and sicken millions of people.

I am sickened and saddened by this BLATANT GREED AND CORRUPTION AND DISREGARD FOR THE WELFARE OF THE BIOSPHERE.

About Me

I am a Professor at a large public university. I study political economy and biopolitics (the politics of life). My interests are diverse but are broadly concerned with economic, social and environmental justice. I have published 5 books: Crisis Communication, Liberal Democracy and Ecological Sustainability: The Threat of Financial and Energy Complexes in the Twenty-First Century (2016); Fukusima and the Privatization of Risk (2013); Constructing Autism (2005); Governmentality, Biopower and Everyday Life (2008/2011); Governing Childhood (2010).
I also participated in an edited collection on Fukushima: Fukushima: Dispossession or Denuclearization (2014).